I'm curious how you store toys! As a homeschool family, I feel like we need enough to keep everyone busy all day, but storing and organizing things can feel like a challenge!
I also store mine in slim 72 qt stackable bins from target (clear so there see through and can easily find it), we also label each bin to keep it neat. We ue different sizes. Target also has smaller ones we store our glue and school supplies $1.50 and fit perfectly in our cubicle. Wish I could send a pic. I love bins!!!
We have a plastic 3-drawer (big drawers) piece for storing the wooden train pieces and Hot Wheels tracks and cars. We have a rack that has various sized open bins that sit on it for smaller pieces like Brain Flakes and K’Nex. My son has too many Legos, so we filled a large bin from the rack with Legos and put the rest in a storage bin with a lid to keep in a closet. It’s more manageable for us. Whenever my son needs to clean up, he just throws the toys back in the bins they were in.
I used to do a lot of babysitting. I remember that train set! I love wooden toys. And I love Legos. I had never heard of the Magna Tiles until I saw them. I fell in love with them instantly. I loved the feel of them and the clicky sound when you put them together. But apparently small children are smarter than I am because never occurred to me to use them 3D style. I walked in one day and the child (along with Mom's help) had made a huge, amazing castle! Honestly, I loved these things probably more than the kids. I seriously thought of getting myself a set. Until I saw the price. But if I could find a small set, even a decent knockoff, I'd consider it. It's so relaxing! I wish I had kids so I could justify buying and playing with some of this stuff, LOL!
Great ideas!! Just what I want to get my little girl this Christmas...more open ended toys. If it's not open ended she wll make it open ended 😊...I know she will love toys like these💕 Thank you for these wonderful ideas 💕😉
Love this video, great suggestions. My family would disagree about the Lincoln Logs though. I’ve seen children use them as open ended toys like loose parts or line them up to make a racetrack etc.
Excellent video. Love that it's not all status symbol toys. Just amazing building and logic toys. Well done. I have a 3year old girl and will be buying lego and a brio trainset along with Playmais (corn building item) and a hammer and nail cork board and those pattern blocks with the design cards from learning resources.
Great ideas! Over here we love the open ended lego sets, jigsaws and sylvanian families! We also love good quality baby dolls ❤ Because of your video we actually picked up the dragon wood game and brought a book around dragons and other mythical creatures to go with it! ❤
Thank you for this video! Hearing about tried and true games is so helpful with holidays incoming. I highly recommend Storytime Chess as a super fun way to learn. My five year old and I loved it. I was not taught how to play chess growing up, so we learned together and had a lot of fun.
If your kids love seek and find you MUST check out the game spot it. It is a HUGE hit in every family I know we also take in with us to dinner or for travel. there are lots of fun variations.
Love this list! Some new ones I’m going to check out with Christmas coming up. Magnatiles, LEGOs, and the wooden train sets have been our more played with toys! My kids love games too.
I love watching your videos. They are always so helpful! Most of these toys are ones that my son already has and has played with for years also, he’s about to turn 8 next week. I will have to look into those 2 games. I have never heard of them. I also never thought about 3d puzzles. He loves puzzles and i buy him new ones every year. That might be a great challenge! Thanks again,
Wonderful ideas!! I'm very intentional about what I get my kids for Christmas. I want them to get that something fun that they really want but also plenty of open ended activities. We're doing 6 gifts this year (which will be alot to some and not enough to others... want, need, wear, create (craft/ project), do (open ended activity), play (game)). I already have the magnet tiles but I always want more lol. Getting a couple of the smart games for my kids and the plus plus this year for Christmas
Sleeping Queens, Ravensberger puzzles and Legos are hits here, too! Thanks for these other ideas, they look great. Do you think the Brain Flakes are a good portable option to bring to appointments?
If I had to make a list like you did, it would look almost identical to yours for my 9yr old!! He outgrew some that you mentioned but we still keep most of them for visiting kids, such as the wooden train set. He plays with Brain Flakes several hours a day, and sometimes K’Nex pieces. We are putting together a 1,000 piece puzzles that has a US map and presidents on it. He loves puzzles! For Christmas, we got Gravity Maze and will have Sleeping Queens 2 hopefully soon. We get lots of activity books as well. Great list! 😀
Those little brain flakes and little brain links are great toys but I have to bring them out when I’m observing them because otherwise they end up all over the floor and the house! I wish they built with them instead of playing with it by putting it everywhere! They’re 3 and 5 so I hope they will eventually not be so interested in putting it everywhere! They are playing with them more like loose parts, which I think is good but it can get messy!
May I ask you how many magnatiles are needed per child to build something decent. I cheaped out last Christmas and want to expand on it. I have 48 pieces but not enough
This is such a helpful video. I have newly three and almost five year old boys who I need to keep out of mischief as their older sisters are in formal lessons. It's always wonderful to have helpful suggestions that can meet their needs as well!
Great suggestions! I find that the toys my kids come to over and over again are open ended toys as well. Anything with buttons/noises/or one way to play get broken really quickly. I’m considering getting the plus plus blocks for my kiddos this year. Do you think a small tube for each kid would be enough or do you need a good amount of them?
Angie! I just ordered the Dragon Wood game for our 9 year old for Christmas from Amazon. I got it and its completely in German! Ha! I'm assuming you don't play the German version with your family unless you've been keeping it a secret that ya'll are bilingual. :) We're sending it back and I hope to find the English version. Loved this video! Helped with fun Christmas ideas!
Oh my gosh, Tiffany I am so sorry! I just took of that link, I should have paid closer attention. I’m glad you ordered early enough to be able to switch it out 🤦🏼♀️
Thank you so much for sharing! I didn't know about Harry Potter 3D puzzles. My son is going to love it! I will also try the plus plus blocks! Thank you!
Thought you might like this resource to pair with your open ended building toys: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Maker-Bins-STEM-Labels-and-250-Task-Cards-Morning-Bins-8243649
![Best Toddler & Preschool Toys from an MIT Engineer [STEM, Montessori, Waldorf, & Minimalist Toys]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dkDPaiE323Y/mqdefault.jpg)
![Best Toddler & Preschool Toys from an MIT Engineer [STEM, Montessori, Waldorf, & Minimalist Toys]](/img/tr.png)
I'm curious how you store toys! As a homeschool family, I feel like we need enough to keep everyone busy all day, but storing and organizing things can feel like a challenge!
Agreed! Years ago, I invested in little plastic tubs with lids - which helps with the storage! I also love that I can reuse them over and over again!
I also store mine in slim 72 qt stackable bins from target (clear so there see through and can easily find it), we also label each bin to keep it neat. We ue different sizes. Target also has smaller ones we store our glue and school supplies $1.50 and fit perfectly in our cubicle. Wish I could send a pic. I love bins!!!
Exactly what I came to comment. Ugh! Storage is a real problem for me.
We have a plastic 3-drawer (big drawers) piece for storing the wooden train pieces and Hot Wheels tracks and cars. We have a rack that has various sized open bins that sit on it for smaller pieces like Brain Flakes and K’Nex. My son has too many Legos, so we filled a large bin from the rack with Legos and put the rest in a storage bin with a lid to keep in a closet. It’s more manageable for us. Whenever my son needs to clean up, he just throws the toys back in the bins they were in.
My son loves seek and find books too. I took 3 apart, put in sleeves and he uses a dry erase marker on them. Helpful if you have a few kids.
I used to do a lot of babysitting. I remember that train set! I love wooden toys. And I love Legos. I had never heard of the Magna Tiles until I saw them. I fell in love with them instantly. I loved the feel of them and the clicky sound when you put them together. But apparently small children are smarter than I am because never occurred to me to use them 3D style. I walked in one day and the child (along with Mom's help) had made a huge, amazing castle! Honestly, I loved these things probably more than the kids. I seriously thought of getting myself a set. Until I saw the price. But if I could find a small set, even a decent knockoff, I'd consider it. It's so relaxing! I wish I had kids so I could justify buying and playing with some of this stuff, LOL!
Haha, I agree, sometimes I love just sitting down and building with them!
Great ideas!! Just what I want to get my little girl this Christmas...more open ended toys. If it's not open ended she wll make it open ended 😊...I know she will love toys like these💕 Thank you for these wonderful ideas 💕😉
Your video is one of the most helpful I have seen on this topic. Thank you.
Thank you so much!
100% agree on the Brain Flakes. Besides Lego, that has been the most played with toy at our house for years!!
Glad you love them too!
Love this video, great suggestions. My family would disagree about the Lincoln Logs though. I’ve seen children use them as open ended toys like loose parts or line them up to make a racetrack etc.
Lots of great suggestions, we have lots of these already. I didn’t think about 3-D puzzles. We’ll have to give that a try!
This is the most helpful toy video I’ve ever watched! Thank you so much! I was able to find many of these on my local Facebook marketplace too!
Excellent video. Love that it's not all status symbol toys. Just amazing building and logic toys. Well done. I have a 3year old girl and will be buying lego and a brio trainset along with Playmais (corn building item) and a hammer and nail cork board and those pattern blocks with the design cards from learning resources.
Love all of those toys!
Great ideas! Over here we love the open ended lego sets, jigsaws and sylvanian families! We also love good quality baby dolls ❤ Because of your video we actually picked up the dragon wood game and brought a book around dragons and other mythical creatures to go with it! ❤
I hope you LOVE Dragonwood!
I used to love a lot of these toys especially tinker toys
Thank you for this video! Hearing about tried and true games is so helpful with holidays incoming. I highly recommend Storytime Chess as a super fun way to learn. My five year old and I loved it. I was not taught how to play chess growing up, so we learned together and had a lot of fun.
I will have to check out Storytime Chess, that sounds like something I would like!
Also one called "No Stress Chess" is very nice! 😊
If your kids love seek and find you MUST check out the game spot it. It is a HUGE hit in every family I know we also take in with us to dinner or for travel. there are lots of fun variations.
Thank you - that sounds perfect for us!
Love this list! Some new ones I’m going to check out with Christmas coming up. Magnatiles, LEGOs, and the wooden train sets have been our more played with toys! My kids love games too.
Glad it was helpful!
I love watching your videos. They are always so helpful! Most of these toys are ones that my son already has and has played with for years also, he’s about to turn 8 next week. I will have to look into those 2 games. I have never heard of them. I also never thought about 3d puzzles. He loves puzzles and i buy him new ones every year. That might be a great challenge! Thanks again,
Wonderful ideas!! I'm very intentional about what I get my kids for Christmas. I want them to get that something fun that they really want but also plenty of open ended activities. We're doing 6 gifts this year (which will be alot to some and not enough to others... want, need, wear, create (craft/ project), do (open ended activity), play (game)). I already have the magnet tiles but I always want more lol. Getting a couple of the smart games for my kids and the plus plus this year for Christmas
That's a good idea to separate craft as a gift category.
Sleeping Queens, Ravensberger puzzles and Legos are hits here, too! Thanks for these other ideas, they look great. Do you think the Brain Flakes are a good portable option to bring to appointments?
Yeah, if you have them in a container, I think they would be just fine!
If I had to make a list like you did, it would look almost identical to yours for my 9yr old!! He outgrew some that you mentioned but we still keep most of them for visiting kids, such as the wooden train set. He plays with Brain Flakes several hours a day, and sometimes K’Nex pieces. We are putting together a 1,000 piece puzzles that has a US map and presidents on it. He loves puzzles! For Christmas, we got Gravity Maze and will have Sleeping Queens 2 hopefully soon. We get lots of activity books as well. Great list! 😀
I love how similar they are!!
Those little brain flakes and little brain links are great toys but I have to bring them out when I’m observing them because otherwise they end up all over the floor and the house! I wish they built with them instead of playing with it by putting it everywhere! They’re 3 and 5 so I hope they will eventually not be so interested in putting it everywhere! They are playing with them more like loose parts, which I think is good but it can get messy!
Haha, it gets better!
May I ask you how many magnatiles are needed per child to build something decent. I cheaped out last Christmas and want to expand on it. I have 48 pieces but not enough
I picked up 2 of the larger sets and I feel like that has been a pretty good amount :) I hard because they are pretty expensive.
This is such a helpful video. I have newly three and almost five year old boys who I need to keep out of mischief as their older sisters are in formal lessons. It's always wonderful to have helpful suggestions that can meet their needs as well!
Great suggestions! I find that the toys my kids come to over and over again are open ended toys as well. Anything with buttons/noises/or one way to play get broken really quickly. I’m considering getting the plus plus blocks for my kiddos this year. Do you think a small tube for each kid would be enough or do you need a good amount of them?
I would say a small tube would be just fine to start - you can always add more if it becomes a favorite toy!
Angie! I just ordered the Dragon Wood game for our 9 year old for Christmas from Amazon. I got it and its completely in German! Ha! I'm assuming you don't play the German version with your family unless you've been keeping it a secret that ya'll are bilingual. :) We're sending it back and I hope to find the English version. Loved this video! Helped with fun Christmas ideas!
Oh my gosh, Tiffany I am so sorry! I just took of that link, I should have paid closer attention. I’m glad you ordered early enough to be able to switch it out 🤦🏼♀️
Thank you so much for sharing! I didn't know about Harry Potter 3D puzzles. My son is going to love it! I will also try the plus plus blocks! Thank you!
The 3D puzzles are amazing!
Thought you might like this resource to pair with your open ended building toys:
www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Maker-Bins-STEM-Labels-and-250-Task-Cards-Morning-Bins-8243649
This is what I recommend for starting young kids with chess:
amzn.to/3zwnynX
♥️
We have used the same and it is wonderful. Highly recommend it!
Thank you - just added it to our Christmas List :)